Mr. Lao asked Mr. Chen, the teacher who was in charge of Shuang University's team, “Mr. Chen, what's up with the rules this year? Do you know anything about why they made these changes?”

Mr. Chen said, “Every year, the host university is allowed to set the rules. This gives the host university an advantage. Previously, I heard rumors that Tsinghua University would be making some changes to the rules this year. However, I didn't know the details behind the changes that were going to be made. Initially, I a.s.sumed that these wouldn't be big changes. However…

HMPH! Mr. Chen couldn't be bothered to hide his anger. “Tsinghua really did it this time. Within their team, Zhang Xiaosheng and Lin Zhenhui are well known to be all-rounders.

“These rules were clearly devised to give both of them an advantage,” Mr. Chen uttered coldly. “I was wondering why Zhao Xiaoou had suddenly reorganized the question sets from the previous years. At the very least, both Zhang Xiaosheng and Lin Zhenhui will be able to successfully defend themselves for one round. The remaining topics aren't very content heavy, and once they are distributed to the rest of the team, they don't have much to memorize. For the remaining seven rounds, they'll simply need to select the strongest contenders among themselves to answer the questions.”

Once Mr. Lao got an answer from Mr. Chen, he returned to the stands.

Everyone at Beijing University had heard what Mr. Chen had said.

So when Mr. Lao returned, he didn't need to explain any further. He spoke directly to Tan Mo, “Tan Mo, we're going to depend on you for tomorrow's compet.i.tion. A knockout-style compet.i.tion just so happens to suit our team very well.”

“If we had kept you as our player even though we were able to switch every round, we'd be put in quite an awkward position. Now that we're obligated to, we won't have to feel embarra.s.sed anymore.” w.a.n.g Yuemu sneered. “The grand scheme that Tsinghua University came up with just so happens to align with our offense perfectly.”

It was rare for Ying Siyuan to speak so solemnly. “Tan Mo, it's all up to you. Defeat them completely! Defend your position from the start to the finish. Beat them up till their faces become swollen!”

HMPH! “Switch out our representative?” Pu Xinyan was also angry. “Tsinghua has come up with such a good idea. Sure, we'll let them switch their representatives. On our side, Tan Mo will stay on from the start to the finish. Let's see who embarra.s.ses themselves in the end.”

“This time, they intended to embarra.s.s us,” w.a.n.g Yuemu said in a low voice. “They probably planned to obtain a landslide win and completely trample over us. That was why they changed the rules.”

Chen s.h.i.+hua nodded his head. “Although they have won previous events, it was always with a very tight margin. This time, they wanted a clear win in order to gain a better spot in next year's official university rankings.”

“Mr. Lao, who comes up with the questions every year? It can't be the host university, can it?” Tan Mo asked.

“Of course not. They invite renowned professors to form a team and discuss the questions,” Mr. Lao explained. “Once they decide on the questions, they lock them up. The pa.s.sword is divided up and distributed to the various princ.i.p.als of the universities. Right before the compet.i.tion, the various princ.i.p.als put all the parts of the pa.s.sword together and unlock the question set.

“However, even if that was not the case, Tsinghua University would not stoop to such a low level and leak the questions in advance.” They had more integrity than that.

Tan Mo nodded her head and said, “I can't guarantee that I will win from the start to the finish. However, I will try my best.”

“All right.” Everyone nodded their heads at the same time.

“Tan Mo, even though we are very confident in you, you shouldn't put too much pressure on yourself.”

“Right. Just perform as you usually do. We were just trying to be enthusiastic when we asked you to win all the rounds. Those were flippant words,” Ling Zimu said. She continued, “Don't take those words to heart.”

Everyone nodded again vigorously. “Right! Don't take what we were saying to heart. We are just excited. We will back you up, no matter what you do. You can rest a.s.sured.”

“In any case, we are your seniors. We are there for you.” Guan Ruyue gently pinched Tan Mo's cheeks.

In the stands where the esteemed guests were seated…

The rest of the professors glared at Professor Liu. They were not impressed.

“Hey, don't look at me like that. I wasn't the one who set the rules.” Professor Liu chuckled. “However, although I wasn't the one who set them, I don't think there's anything wrong with them. This is a better method of testing a student's knowledge base. Someone who only specializes in one area won't amount to much. All of us are trying to bring up well-rounded students, right?”

No one wanted to pick a fight with him. Although Tsinghua University had changed the rules, it didn't mean that it was to their advantage.

The other professors started to completely ostracize Professor Liu. They gossiped about him among themselves.

Professor Chen from Shuang University said, “To be honest, apart from testing the student's knowledge base, it will also test the ability of the teachers to choose a line-up.”

Professor Lu from Jiang University was deep in contemplation. Suddenly, he finally spoke up, “To be honest, if you want a more dependable outcome, you should just give up on the first round. Since we won't know the theme of the first round, what would happen if the student representative encounters a question that they're not familiar with? Since the probability of losing is quite high, we should just give up on winning the first round. Once we find out the theme for the second round, we can send a student that has that area of expertise. At the very least, we can guarantee a round.”

“But if that were the case, even if all the students who are sent forward win, we'll only be able to win five rounds at the very most.” Professor Yao from Nan University shook his head. He frowned and continued, “Although this new rule sounds quite simple, it's actually very crafty.”

Professor w.a.n.g from Tong University shook his head. “I have no idea who came up with this idea. Such a limitation would restrict the performance of the other schools while displaying the strengths of Tsinghua University at the same time.”

Although they didn't feel like speaking to Professor Liu at this time, Professor Liu did not mind at all. He even took the initiative to join in their conversation. “Professor Guo, why have you remained silent the whole time? Are the rules so upsetting that you're no longer in the mood to speak?”

At this point, it was obvious that Professor Liu was rejoicing at his misfortune. It was written all over his face.

Professor Guo was trying his utmost to hold back his real feelings about the new rules. He merely snorted, HARRUMPH.

Are you sure it's because I'm not in the mood to speak?

I'm in such a good mood, I'm worried that I will let the cat out of the bag if I open my mouth.

Did Tsinghua think that these rules were implemented specially for their students?

Little did they know, those rules were perfect for Tan Mo.

Professor Guo was trying his best to appear angry. However, joy was bursting from his heart.

He had his doubts. Had President Mu sent a spy to Tsinghua University?

Was the person who set those rules someone from Beijing University?

At that moment, Professor Guo only had one worry. Would Mr. Lao send Tan Mo up for the first round?

After all, Mr. Lao didn't really know Tan Mo very well.

Professor Guo's eyes remained fixed on the Beijing team seated in the contestants' stands.

In his heart, he repeated the same phrase over and over again, “Please let them send Tan Mo up.”

They had to send Tan Mo up!

Professor Liu could sense that Professor Guo was anxious.

“Old Guo, relax. This is just a small compet.i.tion. It's not that important,” Professor Liu said in a blase manner. “Our friends.h.i.+p comes first. The compet.i.tion is secondary. Even if you lose, it doesn't mean much. In any case, you guys will gain experience, right? You all will be able to bear it this year. It's merely another loss for you. Your students are already used to it.”